Weekly Menu To Inspire You #1: Fall Edition

The BIGGEST struggle my clients, and many of you, share that holds them back from nutritional success is meal prep, menu ideas and planning. It takes times, energy and thought, all of which we just can’t seem to squeak out enough energy to make happen.

The reality is though–it is a game changer when it comes to nutritional success. When your weekly menu is set, you are much more likely to feel compelled to stick to the plan and prepare your food at home. In addition, meal prep keeps money in your wallet instead of overspending on halfway decent restaurant meals. What I’ve found is that when we go out it really feels like a “special” meal out and we enjoy it much more.

Nothing Fancy

Meal planning doesn’t have to be fancy. I think that is where many people fail. They scan the interwebs for tasty looking meals that require everything under the kitchen sink and then feel completely overwhelmed. Instead, start simple and think of what ingredients lend themselves to multiple meals in the week so that ingredients don’t get wasted in your frig.

Each family has their own unique way to menu plan from chalkboard menus to digital planning guides…find what works for you and stick with it (not just for a week). Your lifestyle, number of mouths to feed and food preferences will greatly dictate that routine. My goal is to take the “thought” out of the planning and provide you with a list of meals that will remove one piece of the puzzle.

Getting in the mindset of planning ahead rather than facing the 6 o’clock scramble after a busy day of work and overtired children is not the ideal time to have to come up with a dinner plan from scratch. Do yourself a favor and become proactive in your planning.

This week’s menu ideas are inspired by Fall. It’s the season of squash, soup and cooler weather (unless you live in AZ like me). Several of these recipes require chicken breast or ground turkey. One of the simplest ways to simplify your mealtime prep is to do “prep ahead protein.” I love to get the protein work out of the way and prepare chicken in the Instant Pot, slow cooker or grill and then use it for several meals in the week.

Menu ideas to inspire you:

If you are like us, Monday sometimes leaves us like a deer in the headlights trying to recover from the weekend. Make Monday easy so you start off with a huge win in the meal prep box and it drives some momentum into the rest of the week.

Why not join the Taco Tuesday trend and make this a theme each week with a unique twist. These tacos are fresh tasting and are delicious on my favorite, butter lettuce. You can easily add in corn tortillas as well.

Soup Night is an easy night and cozy night for the fall and winter weather. Soups can cook all day long in the crockpot or have some quick turnaround time in the Instant Pot. This recipe is a great one to add your prep ahead protein in order to work for a more balanced plate that includes protein value.

When you hear casserole…don’t you think to comfort food? I know I do and this one doesn’t disappoint. Even though it adds a big veggie component, your family won’t even notice because it is that yummy. You can prep this ahead too and pop it in the oven an hour or so before you are ready to eat.

The weekend derails people from mealtime success because we deviate from routine and want to just relax. So plan ahead for that and use the morning time when we typically have more energy to put some ingredients in the crockpot, leaving no excuse for dinner time. This recipe is awesome because you can doctor up the seasonings and add even more veggies for micronutrient bonus.

We are football fans and use Sunday to stay in our PJs, veg out and be together as a family. We love to have football foods that are fun and that involve the whole family. This recipe ups the health game and used sweet mini peppers as the vessel for delivery but can also be substituted for a more traditional homemade corn chip.